


Guide You Home

by drmrs



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Olicity reunion, season 5, thea talks to oliver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drmrs/pseuds/drmrs
Summary: Thea Queen is worried about her brother in the aftermath of Prometheus but then realizes she doesn’t have to.





	Guide You Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This is the first thing I've written in a long time and it's a whole lot of nerve-wrecking. I just needed to post this now or I’d send myself to the land of doubt. Basically, it’s unrevised and I’m sorry for any mistakes.
> 
> I finished this right before 5x22 aired and it kind of overlaps with that talk Thea had with Oliver at the start of the episode. Regardless, I hope you like it!

Thea Queen is worried about her brother.

Saying he has had a crazy decade feels like a gross understatement considering everything that he has gone through. And she hasn’t even tried to _begin_ comprehending the implication of the experiences he has been reluctant to share.

Ever since the whole ordeal with Prometheus though, Oliver seems more withdrawn than he has been in a long time. He’s tense and wary even though there’s no imminent danger and it breaks her heart a little whenever she notices the glint of doubt and hesitation he still has. It’s worse knowing her brother doesn’t even realize he has been distant because he still genuinely believes he’s a monster. Sometimes, she wishes she could put all that torture skills Malcolm had taught her to good use on Chase just for how he has made Oliver question himself even more than he already had.

The moment she heard that Oliver had given his vigilante team the night off, Thea had begun formulating a speech to get him out of his head. She wants nothing more than to see him happy and while she’s not exactly sure how he’s going to accomplish it just yet, she knows the first step definitely has something to do with him no longer listening to the words of a psychopath.

Besides, she misses him. Their lives has been nothing short of crazy and they haven't really spent time just talking to each other in a while. Thea is determined to change that.

Of course, there’s also the _tiny_ detail of Oliver being incapable of taking a break and needing someone to ensure he actually sticks to it.

“Ollie?” she calls out as she enters the loft she has been sharing with him, “Are you home?”

She makes a beeline for the kitchen and to the drawer with the takeout menus. She’s honestly tempted to ask him to cook because he’s somehow learned to be amazing at it - which is definitely another thing she needs to understand about him - but she’s determined to make Oliver relax in every way possible before calling him out.   

“Speedy,” he replies as she settles on Big Belly, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Rene told me you gave the team the night off and I thought maybe we could order some takeout and watch a movie together? It’s been a while sinc- And you have plans,” she surmises when he walks into the kitchen.

He’s dressed in clothes that are definitely _not_ meant for a night in and he has his keys in his hand. Her hopes of spending time with him vanishes and confusion sets in.

As far as she knows, the rest of the team has made their own plans. He’s free of mayoral duties for the day and there aren’t any illegal activities he has to shoot arrows at. Was he planning on heading to the bunker regardless? Or – _God forbid_ , she really hopes he hasn’t rekindled things with Susan or met some other woman. She loves him but his love life is a mess she doesn’t want to deal with right now.

Oliver clears his throat and Thea really looks at him. It’s then that she notices how he’s gripping his keys a little too tightly and his right hand has taken on that unconscious tic as though he’s nocking an arrow.

“Ollie?” she takes a step towards him, “What’s wrong?”

For what feels like hours, he just stares at her and Thea can't quite identify that look he has. She’s just about to prompt him again when he cuts her off.

“I’m going over to Felicity’s,” he stumbles over his words slightly as though he can’t quite believe he’s saying them and clarity sets in for Thea. His behavior suddenly made so much sense.

“She wants to watch the latest Star Trek movie,” he clarifies.

When she just continues staring at him because she totally hadn't been expecting _that_ , Oliver shakes his head slightly as though to sort through his thoughts, “Do you want to come with? I’m sure Felicity wouldn’t mind.”

She knows her brother well enough to know that he’s genuinely asking. But it’s also blatantly obvious that it wasn’t just some casual movie night and he probably _really_ doesn’t want her to be there.

She has to try to really hard to resist snorting at him.

“Is the rest of the team invited too?” she quips and watch in amusement as a flicker of distaste crosses his face. He looks as though the very idea is hurting him.

“Uh,” he starts as he shoves his hands into his pockets and shifts his weight to his heels, “I’m not sure if they’ve made plans yet but we could invite them too. I think Digg wants to spend time with Lyla and Rene wouldn’t be interested but Curtis w-”

She tried. She really did.

Oliver stops talking and stares at her in mild embarrassment as she laughs at him. She never thought she’d see her stoic brother babbling – _ever_. But then again, Felicity has always had a way with him and Thea is not really surprised anymore.

“It’s meant to be a date, isn’t it?”

The effect is instantaneous. Thea sort of wishes she had a camera in her hand to record the unfiltered array of emotions that crosses his face. The deer in the headlight look is priceless.

“No. I don’t- I mean-” he stops and takes a deep breath before meeting her gaze, “Do you think so?”

Thea is momentarily thrown by the genuine uncertainty on his face.

She had expected him to deny it and she’d just continue teasing him before he leaves because there’s no way she’s getting in between those two. But her brother is honestly asking and the hope in his eyes – albeit hesitant – makes her reach out and wrap her fingers around her wrist.

She loves her brother. He’s the most important person in her life and she’d do anything for him just like he has done for her time after time. The years he has spent away and the years since his return has been plagued with so much darkness, loss and pain and she wishes nothing more than to take it away or at least make it better.

And she should have known that the way to bring him home from his own personal purgatory is through Felicity Smoak.

The unadulterated happiness she had gotten a glimpse of from her brother when he had been dating Felicity is all she has ever wanted for him. And Thea would do her damnedest to make sure that happens again now that there’s a chance that they could be on the same page again.

“Yeah,” she smiles and squeezes his wrist, “It’s definitely important.”

A ghost of a smile passes his face as he looks down at their hands. Thea waits patiently while he gathers his thoughts.

“I really don’t want to mess this up, Speedy,” he says so softly that she almost missed it.

“You won’t,” she assures him, “You’re not the same person as you were before and you told me that we should stop letting our past dictate our future. You just have to remember that.”

“Felicity told me that,” his eyes flicker up to hers.

“Of course she did,” she snorts and makes sure he’s looking at her before continuing, “You’re a good man, Ollie, and you deserve to be happy. Felicity already loves you for who you are. So just be honest with her, okay? Talk to each other.”

The tentative smile he gives her is all that she could hope for.

“Yeah,” he wraps her in a hug, “Thanks, Speedy.”

“Of course,” she says and then pauses for a beat, “But Ollie? Please think twice before making any decisions because you make some really stupid ones.”

He pulls away to shoot her a scathing look and Thea grins up at him.

“I should go,” he presses a kiss to her temple and shoots her a smile before heading for the door.

As it closes behind him, Thea reaches for her phone and types out a quick message to the team. She warns them not to reach out to her brother and her future sister-in-law _no matter what_. She’d put on her suit tonight if she’d have to and knows without a doubt that Diggle wouldn’t mind wearing her brother’s if he knew why he couldn’t make it.

She knows better than to think that everything would be better for Ollie with just one date. And Thea knows that the possibility of her brother being stupid at some point and trying to pull away would be high because god knows he tries to protect the ones he loves and it goes without a doubt that he loves Felicity fiercely.

The city never seems to stop attracting villains either and her brother would always step up to protect it – either as the mayor or as the arrow.

But when he stumbles into the apartment in the early morning and stares at her sheepishly for a moment before launching into explanations of how he needs to change because he forgot that he has a meeting scheduled but is she free tonight because _Felicity_ thought the idea of a team arrow movie night would be great, Thea smiles and feels that maybe she doesn't have to bother trying to talk her brother out of getting stuck in his head after all. Her smile grows wider when he makes his way back to the kitchen in his tux and when she asks how the date has gone, she's greeted with a beatific smile and he already looks younger, happier, _lighter_.

He kisses her temple as he tells her to confirm if she’s free tonight and to text the rest of the team but she’s too overwhelmed by the sheer happiness on his face to formulate a reply until after the door has closed behind him.

Thea Queen is worried about her brother and she knows she’s always going to be.

He’s a bow-wielding vigilante who’s determined to protect the people and the city that he loves while having a penchant to doubt his own worthiness of happiness and being loved.

It’s basically inevitable to worry about him.

But as she grabs her phone to text the team again and is greeted by a message from Felicity apologizing about stealing her brother the night before and that she’s sorry for making him late for his mayoral duties and keeping him up all night, the worry she feels for Oliver dissipates. And when she’s bombarded with more messages of _no wait I didn’t mean it that way_ , Thea decides that there's always time for her to reconnect with her brother later and wonders if maybe she should just start planning his wedding now.

Either way, she’s now determined to make sure her brother gets his happy ending with the woman he loves and will gladly do anything to make it happen.

He’s going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for making it till the end! (;


End file.
